roadtrip
by Puddlesama
Summary: A car coupled with a long winded road that curled around sunshine, clouds and moonlight the only thing that could ruin this paradise is a driver and a passenger who cannot tolerate each other. Certainly a recipe for chemistry fueled by catastrophe. AC
1. Chapter 1

They each needed a vacation – some time off to breathe. She knew this.

It would have been best if they took this vacation separately, away from each other. She knew this too.

That's exactly why she set them up.

**Part I**

Athrun shifted in the uncomfortable seat at the airport. He'd arrived too early and had finished with the customary checkups plane passengers were forced through. Now, he was in a spacey waiting room alone, trying to focus on the book open in his hands instead of how the seat lumped awkwardly beneath him. Since he was alone, he shifted uneasily every few seconds. This way, no one was around to witness his fidgeting.

He noticed he was holding his book upside down, which indicated how interested in it he was. At least it would be only 10 minutes before the other person showed up. Kira told him nothing but for that he would be traveling their home with this person via a private jet. Sometimes, the connections Lacus had amazed him.

She sought out a castle in ruins in the middle of no where and had enough power to pull strings so they – her and Kira – could own it. She had connections with airlines and cruiselines and rental companies. Owners of luxury hotels fell at her feet. He didn't know how she did it.

This castle she'd found was in the process of being renovated so it was habitable. They were planning their wedding at this location too. It was typical of them to hold a quiet friends and family (Did they even have anymore family?) ceremony on a rock that couldn't be placed on a map, and had only one rocky dirt road about a 100 miles long leading up to it. Luckily Lacus had ordered this private jet.

Still, he was looking forward to it. Kira and Lacus were the siblings he'd never had. He was thrilled that they were finally marrying. And he was looking forward to the month's vacation. He needed the time off desperately to regroup his mind. Stress had gotten the better half of him lately, and it was only more stressful that he wasn't allowed to show it.

9:22 am read the digital clock on the wall. He'd just have to survive the 8 minute wait to 9:30.

---

9:30.

9:30! She sprang up in her bed, her eyes wide open. Oh _shit_, she was supposed to be at the airport by now. It was already time for her to be at the airport. Oh shit, shit, shit.

She threw off her blanket and grabbed her brush before diving into the shower. She barely managed to make it out of the shower alive after she almost shampooed her teeth. She threw on khakis and a long, loose neck tee before she began her frantic hunt for her luggage. Where had she put it? Where, where, where?

It took her a good five minutes to realize that she had sent her luggage to the airport early just because she could. That and loading her luggage on a bus in the morning all by herself would have been a fun thing she wouldn't want to do. Public transit was awesome, but not meant for a month's worth of clothes and wedding gifts for her brother and sister-in-law-to-be.

9:50. Again – shit. Grabbing her bag, she dashed out her door, diving for the bus. It would take 20 minutes to get to the airport – 10:10 – and then there was the time to get through customs. She wouldn't usually care, since it was a private flight, and from her experience with private flights, it didn't matter really if the plane was free. And as far as what Kira had told her, no one was really showing up a month before the date. She was going to help with renovations. But, she'd been told she was traveling _with_ someone.

Hopefully they wouldn't be pissy about the wait; she idly leaned her head against the tinted window of the bus, willing the bus to speed furiously.

---

Athrun had his eyes closed, the book - still upside down – resting on his stomach. One of his ankles rested on his opposite knees, and he slouched in his seat. The big black shades made it impossible to see that he was sleeping.

So it was no surprise when a steward came up to him and started speaking to his sleeping form. It took a while for him to wake up to the steward's voice, but when he did all he heard was "…the plane left…" Although the boy kept on talking, Athrun was deaf to hear. His eyes shot up to the digital clock. 10:23 am, it read. He looked around only to see an empty waiting room beyond the steward.

"Wait, wait," he politely cut the boy off. "Why has the plane left though? I thought it was to wait for the late one. That's what the lady at the boarding counter had told me."

"Well, it was supposed to, but it was called back by Miss Lacus to run errands for her renovating." He explained meekly, bowing apologetically.

"Why didn't you tell me? I'd have boarded the plane when it left." He asked, quite appalled by the news. He noticed the luggage was here. The security stickers had yesterday's date on them. So, they'd sent their luggage in early. What kind of person made sure that the luggage was on time, but showed up late themselves?

"You were asleep sir," was the courteous response.

"I really wouldn't have minded if you'd woken me up. I -" Athrun was now shifty. Had he waited for no reason? He wasn't one who liked to be kept waiting.

"I did consider that sir, but when I was on the telephone with Miss Lacus, she said that she wanted you to travel with Miss Cagalli. I assumed it was as protection. So, she suggested you drive down." He bowed again. Athrun would feel colossal guilt if he lashed out at this nervous, polite, young boy.

"Protection?" He asked.

"Well, you are Kira Sir's best friend, and Miss Cagalli is his -" He was cut off by a loud whip of the metal doors.

And there she stood, hands on her knees and breath short and quick. "I'm," she paused to breathe some more, "here. Sorry."

"Ah, that is Miss Cagalli, sir. Did you have a means of transport, or should I contact the car rental?" He inquired.

"Ah, no, I drove here." Athrun eyes didn't leave the blonde girl in the doorway.

"Right, I shall send your luggage down then." He bowed, "Excuse me." Athrun nodded and he left without greeting Cagalli. She was too far, and yelling was not proper etiquette.

"Ah, are you the guy I'm traveling with?" She asked, making her way down to the seats where he sat. "Nice posture."

He immediately put his feet down firmly and stood. "Cagalli? I assume." Well, technically he was told.

She held her hand out. "Yeah, Cagalli Yula Attha. You?"

"Athrun Zala." He took her hand. "And at least I'm not an hour and a half late for my plane."

"Ah, sorry about that, I overslept." She scratched the back of her head, grinning.

"It's nothing to be cheerful about. I've been here for two hours," Athrun crossed his arms and sighed.

"Don't be bitter about it. I apologized." Her eyebrow twitched at his hostility. "It's not like you withered."

"No, not me, but our plane did tire of the wait." His eyes narrowed at her. She was audacious to talk to him like that after making him wait for almost 2 hours.

"What? You let the plane leave?" Her eyes widened in surprise – a kind of _you fucking idiot_. He got that.

"Well, I didn't let it leave. It just _left_ because not everyone and everything waits for Princess Cagalli!" Athrun was becoming increasingly irritated.

"Then why the hell didn't you stop it?" She asked, clenching her fist by her side to keep from grabbing Athrun's collar.

"Because I was tired from waking up on time at 6:30 and being here in time to wait an hour and a half for your royal ass to show up and I dosed off." Athrun's was low and rising.

"Then you should have gotten on the plane instead of waiting for me and being an old, grouchy hag." She spat, shoving him lightly as she released his collar.

"Trust me, I tried." Athrun would've violently done something if she wasn't female. "Aparently though, you're too frail to travel alone so I need to baby-sit you every step of the way."

"What?" Cagalli's eyes narrowed defiantly challenging the green ones that snarled back at her through the dark shades. "Where did you dream that?"

"It's not a personal opinion." Athrun shrugged, pleased with the reaction. "Everyone here thinks so."

"Who told you so?" She demanded, her tone threatening bodily harm.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" He dismissed casually, angering her further. "We've lost days because of you so the least you can do is apologize and quietly make your way down to the parking lot."

"I'm sorry your grouchy personality couldn't get on the plane." She faked sincerity. "And while I thank you for charitably offering to drive, I think I can manage, just like I would've if you weren't here."

"You're insane if you think I'm going to let you drive." Athrun looked amused at the idea.

"What authority lets you decide?" She shrugged. "It's not _your _car?"

"Yes, it is." He concluded, making his way to the door, turning back to see if she was following only to find her dumbfounded. "What're you waiting for, a lunar eclipse?"

She shook her head slightly and jogged to catch up to him. "What was Lacus thinking?" She mumbled, utterly dissatisfied with this sticky situation.

"What indeed." He responded, startling her. The dislike was mutual it seemed.

"It's rude to eavesdrop." She glared.

"Who else could you be talking to?" He asked. He was the only one within hearing distance.

"Myself." She replied curtly.

"Must be interesting." He mocked. She didn't like the way he was so – _amused_ by her.

"More interesting than you are." She rolled her eyes.

"Where's your car?" she asked, looking around the parking lot,

"In front of you." He answered simply, pushing a button to unlock the doors.

She tried not to stare in wide eyed wonder. A shiny black convertible that looked like it would be a few years till it hit markets. It looked comfortable and cozy, emanating a very inviting kind of warmth. The car contradicted its owner in every way possible. She loved it, and so far detested Mr. Athrun Zala. "How long will this take?" She asked, noting that the luggage had been neatly loaded.

"I don't know, it took you two extra hours to get down to the airport. It could take you days to get into the car." Cagalli's hands fisted by her side at the smirk on Athrun's face as he spoke. She stomped her way around the car and slammed the door after she sat in the passenger seat and snapped her seatbelt into its lock.

"How long will I be so fortunately blessed with your oh so cheerful, pleasant presence before the company of Kira and Lacus dilutes your sheer charm?" She punctuated her sentence with a smile as sarcastic as her words.

Athrun's eyes rolled as the car's engine hummed to a start. "A week at least. I'll try to prolong it as much as possible if you like me so much."

"I think Kira and Lacus need our help at the quickest possible." Cagalli hastily added, "We shouldn't disappoint."

"Oh, so you do have some sense of responsibility." While Athrun was teasing, his tone was too condescending to be friendly.

"Were you born with that icicle up your ass, or did something traumatic in your childhood fix it there?" She asked, her sugary voice oozing through her gritted teeth.

In response, Athrun stepped on the gas and drove. There was no point in continuing a conversation that led nowhere and had side-effects of minor headaches and growing feelings of dislike. Cagalli seemed pleased with the silence, or so he assumed from her leaning away onto the window frame and enjoying the wild wind in her hair.

This was the first and perhaps only thing they would agree on for the drive down to Lacus' castle which stood on its remote rock. This was the beginning of a very long road trip.

---

They have so much UST. It begs to be written. & so it was.


	2. Chapter 2

I just watched The Ugly Truth and am inspired to continue this. As a battle of the sexes romantic comedy, it showed me what I want and especially what I don't want from this story.

I took a 3 year break from writing. A brief, quasi-explanation fills my profile should you be interested.

**Part II**

The setting had changed to a hotel room. It was picturesque; the room had decor gorgeous enough to rival the sea shore view outside the french windows. They each loved the room for various reasons. The only thing that ruined it all was that they had to share it. How a hotel is a remote town like this was completely booked on a weekday was beyond the both of them.

"As if the ride here wasn't bad enough..." Cagalli muttered under her breath, repressing the horrid memories of what little conversation they had attempted over the course of the drive to this quaint town.

"Why don't you go find another hotel?" Athrun suggested, taking a seat on the bed. "I think we'd both like that."

"Get your fat ass off my bed. I paid for the room." Cagalli responded, ignoring the previous comment. She noted that contrary to her words, Athrun's ass looked quite delicious, especially in those jeans.

"Where do you expect me to sleep?" He asked, his voice earnest in part.

"Fuck if I care." Cagalli busied herself at the minibar. She would need everything she found in there to survive this trip.

"I've been driving all day while you've been absently staring at scenery. I _deserve_ the bed." He reasoned.

"Aren't you the gentlemanly sorts; or don't you at least try to be?" She asked, her tone too condescending for his liking.

"Not to girls like you." His voice carried a haughty undertone which worked against his favour.

"Oh, what are girls like me?" She raised an eyebrow, curious to hear the stereotype he had labeled her with.

"Girls who are utterly uninteresting." His blunt response took her by surprise. She'd been described with many adjectives before, but uninteresting was a first. She fought a scowl.

"You can dream about sleeping in a bed tonight, dear." She said with controlled and obviously forced courtesy.

"You can fuck yourself in your lavish bed." A pause. "_...dear"_

"It'll be shitloads more satisfying than fucking you, I'm sure." She smiled a sugary, sarcastic smile before emptying the small bottle of vodka in one sip.

Athrun reached past her to gather all the scotch he could find. She flashed a murderous glare at him for she was not prepared to share the minibar. "Don't you have to drive bright and early tomorrow morning. You don't want to be hungover." She reached for the liquor gathered in his hands.

He quickly pulled his hands out of her reach. "I need something to keep me in bed late enough to avoid forgetting you tomorrow."

She feigned a toothy grin. "How considerate. It'll help make the floor softer too."

"What floor?" He questioned innocently, planting himself on the left side of the bed. The scotch was lined up on his bedside table and the uncapped bottle was already at his lips.

"I am not sharing a bed with you!" She exclaimed, downing the bottle of tequila next.

"Nobody's forcing you to." Athrun shrugged, moving onto the second bottle himself.

A long bout of silence followed interrupted only by the sound of the tiny liquor bottles hitting the plush carpet or the immaculate mahogany table top. Over an half an hour had passed since they had entered the room. Cagalli had six bottles scattered around her as she leaned against the wall opposite the fridge. She counted the bottles Athrun had plowed through, not missing the ones scattered on the floor by the bed. Athrun was on his tenth.

"Shouldn't you slow down a little?" She asked noticing the blush spreading across his cheeks. She wasn't concerned about him, she just wanted more alcohol to herself - or so she rationalized.

"There isn't much to begin with, so the faster I drink, the less likely I am to remember this wonderful evening tomorrow." Athrun was already working open the eleventh bottle, struggling slightly.

"Lucky you. I wish I could forget a few of the excruciating hours I spend with you." Cagalli sighed, finishing the bottle of pale orange liquor in the bottle. Peach Schnapps, the label read. She liked the contents. "Alcohol isn't so kind to me."

"I'm not surprised." Athrun shrugged, finally breaking the seal on the bottle. "It's tedious being kind to conceited bitches like you."

Cagalli's soft chuckles broke into laughter. Her buzz seemed to negate all of Athrun's detestable attributes. Athrun, on the other hand, looked well into the tipsy stage of drinking. "At least change into your PJs before you pass out, okay?"

Athrun nodded absently in her direction, swallowing the bitter dark liquid. The expression on his face screamed his dislike for what he'd just tasted. He quickly followed it up with the next bottle which only mildly succeeded in washing away the acrid taste. There were no more bottles on his table that were not empty. Upon realizing this, he looked over at the fridge counting the remaining colourful bottles lined up in it.

Upon noticing Cagalli immediately shut the fridge. "Nuh-un. These are mine. You should've rationed yours."

Athrun pouted. Of all the things Cagalli had witnessed grown men do, she had never seen one pout this childishly. It made his otherwise hardened eyes and pursed lips look softer. It was cute, she admitted to herself. She quickly averted her eyes because she was not drunk enough to have favourable thoughts about her despicable travel partner.

"Conceited bitches never learn to share." She said with her trademark smile that oozed disdained sweetness.

Athrun sunk into bed, pushing his head into the pillows behind him and mumbled, "saw that one coming," to which Cagalli merely forced another exaggerated smile.

Cagalli drank alone and Athrun watched her wordlessly. She paused her steady drinking momentarily to rummage through her bag before disappearing into the washroom. When she returned, she was in a loose tank top and short shorts. She resumed drinking soon after, occupying the same space she had before she'd moved.

Athrun looked ridiculous with his eyes half closed. His face seemed torn between sleeping and staying awake. His vivid green eyes were lost behind the sleepy sheen on his eyes. She quietly took a few pictures on her cellphone before realizing that Athrun was potentially incapacitated right now.

"Hey," she called out. "I told you to change before passing out."

Athrun groaned and turned away from her. It had been an hour since he had exhausted his share of the liquor and Cagalli was on her last bottle. She was vacantly watching the muted late night television. The flicker of the show placed interesting shadows across the room which had captured her attention. The wine coloured pomegranate liqueur she was sipping had a refreshing sour aftertaste she liked. She made a note to stop by a liquor store before they reached tomorrow's hotel. She was sure Athrun would not mind considering his behaviour tonight.

She did not know whether it was fatigue or boredom that did her in by 2 am, but she was ready for bed. She stretched from head to toe like a cat before walking over to her side of the bed. Looking down, she found Athrun asleep before her. She'd long come to terms with having to share the bed with him and she reasoned that it was large enough for her not to notice him. However, the left was hers. She'd explicitly pointed it out on the elevator in case she needed to face this fact. Then why was there a mess of midnight hair on her side of the bed.

"Roll over," she droned, deciding not to make a big deal. She initially poked at him like a child toyed with food on their plate but got no reaction. So she began to nudge him over to the right side of the bed. Athrun still refused to respond.

She leaned over to check if he was actually a heavy sleeper or merely pretending to be one. She backed away quickly, her face scrunched in disgust. "What the fuck? You smell like a dead cow!" Athrun only grunted to reply, waving his hand dismissively at her face. "I told you not to wear that leather jacket in the sun. The smell is baked into your shirt."

When all Athrun did was grunt a little more she demanded, "go change!"

"Tired," he mumbled monosyllabically.

"I don't care. I'm not sleeping next to the stench of a slaughterhouse." The alcohol slurred Cagalli's words together just as it made her head pound.

"Drunk," was the next word he threw at her.

Cagalli was an impatient, tired and drunk, trying to reason with a boy who did not like her and was barely conscious. She decided the best course of action was to threaten him. "If you don't change..." she started.

Athrun turned around to look at her lazily. The expectant look on his sleepy face worked to further frustrate Cagalli. "I'll fucking change you myself."

He shook his head and sank deeper into his pillows. "Go ahead." He submitted sleepily to Cagalli whose face was building a dark blush.

"Fine!" She stormed off to his bag. His pajamas were the first thing she saw in his suitcase but she took the liberty of tossing all his belonging all over the room, making as much of a mess as she could.

She did not handle Athrun gently, moving him abruptly and awkwardly. Athrun could not keep up because the scotch had flooded his brain and slowed it down to almost a halt. She propped him into a sitting position making creative use of the headboard and pillows. It took considerable effort on her part to get the shirt off him, but when she did she was glad the smell of expired cows had not seeped into his skin yet. She was too drunk and motivated to change his clothes to notice the eye candy before her. Her fingers, however, did appreciate the silkiness of his skin and the leanness of his torso. They were after all one of the most sensitive parts of the human body. When she buttoned up the large cartoon-like buttons of his pajamas they were not properly aligned. She pushed him back on the bed and undid his jeans. It was much easier to slide them off his body than the shirt. The large pajama bottoms were not very difficult to shimmy onto his body, but did require some time. In that time she noticed that Athrun's cotton pajamas were patterned with animated shooting stars. The childishness of the art amused her despite the heavy presence of alcohol in the functional parts of her brain.

"There," she declared, unnecessarily proud of her accomplishment.

"Thanks." Athrun mumbled, curling himself around a pillow and settling back to sleep. "Way more comfortable."

"Great. Now roll over." She demanded again.

"Not a dog," was Athrun's cheeky response. It took a while for Cagalli to decipher what he'd said because the words had melted together before they left his mouth.

"You fucking bastard! Move over!" Cagalli was grumpy now, which was worsened by her drunken fatigue.

"Can't make me." He refuted stubbornly - childishly. His pajamas suited him well.

"I'll sleep on _top_ of you if you don't move." She warned.

Athrun scoffed at the idea. "Try it." He challenged. Cagalli's eyes widened in surprise. Did he even know what he was saying anymore? Cagalli was well aware that she was drunk and needed sleep to sober up. Yet, she was in good control of her actions and words. Athrun seemed to be the exact opposite. It was as though the liquor had possessed him. It made her wish she could perform an exorcism and possibly near fatally injure him in the process.

Instead, she climbed in top of him and spitefully yet innocently said "Good night."

She was in a very uncomfortable position, but she would not be able to fall asleep on the right side. She'd tried countless times in her college days when her brother had visited her, but never got any sleep on those nights. Athrun shifted under her till they were chest to chest. His eyes were open now but looked vacant. She repressed the urge to knock on his skull to check if anyone was in.

"You're on top of me." He said as though he was stating a fact.

"I told you I would be if you didn't move." She mimicked his tone.

Almost immediately after she'd finished her sentence, Athrun had flipped her around. His knees confined her legs and his palms pinned down her arms. Her eyes would have jumped out of their sockets had they not been secured so well by mother nature.

"Now I'm on top," stated Athrun, sounding satisfied. Before Cagalli had a chance to respond, his body went limp and crashing down on hers.

"Athrun!" she shrieked, struggling to breathe under his weight. "Athrun, stop fooling around!"

She kept yelling his name to try and wake him before she realized that he was no longer sleeping. He'd lost consciousness - officially. She tried to push him off her but the dead weight of his body overpowered her despite her strength.

"Fatass," she muttered under her breath as she resigned from the futile fight.

She tried to ignore the awkwardness of the situation and tried to fall asleep. She could smell his shampoo and his laundry detergent. They mingled together in a way she liked. She could feel the soft cotton of his pajamas against her legs which contrasted the roughness of his palms against her hands. His long hair floated against her neck, brushing against some of the most sensitive skin on her body. His lips were less than an inch from her ear and his breath tickled her cheek. Regardless of her determination to neglect her position, she could not sleep. No sensible girl, however drunk, would be able sleep with a guy she detested sprawled all over her.

Cagalli swore that her brother's best man would be less of a man at the wedding than he was tonight. She plotted the various ways she could emasculate him to occupy the time until the alcohol drifted her into a passive sleep.

* * *

Review? =D


	3. Chapter 3

I can not even express how ridiculously happy the reviews made me. I walked around star-struck and dazed, as if Athrun had passed out of top of me instead of Cagalli. Thank you.

There is mild concern for Athrun's character. I know that characters are a matter of perception and I will not bore you with a justification rant. However, if there are any particular character traits that I am lacking that you would like to see, please point them out and I will factor them in as best as I can.

This is my last update for the month of August (in this story). I will embark on my worldly travels for the last two weeks of August and while I will write, as I inevitably do on my journeying, it will all be scribbled in my horrible penmanship in a notebook. I will update as soon as I finish the next chapter, although it will be well into September.

Lastly, I am sure that this chapter is not as funny as most of you expect it to be. Believe me, I tried, but the realist in me forces me to deal with emotions outside of dry sarcasm and cynicism in a chaptered story such as this. Uh, expect fury and ceasefires. I'd rather lower your expectations than disappoint you.

**Part III**

Cagalli had not drawn the curtains shut the night before. She liked staring out at the stars and the shimmering water, and in the ordeal of changing Athrun she'd forgotten to pull the drapes shut. So, when the morning sun rose into the cloudless sky, its beams played teasingly across Athrun's face causing him to stir. The first thing he felt was the mass of warmth beneath him. His lingering sleep forced his reflexes into action and he tried to engulf the welcoming heat. His leg curled around her lean, smooth thigh and his arms squirmed their way into the shallow crevice under the small of her back. His movement stirred Cagalli who had been anchored into a deep sleep by the mix of liqueurs she's sampled the night before. She was used to sleeping under covers and the uncovered parts of were feeling chilly. Instinctively, her body moved to latch onto any part of the boy above her seeking out his natural heat. She cocooned herself beneath him and he blanketed her much as his body would allow. Neither of them was awake or aware enough to realize their complementary movement.

It was when Cagalli felt something stiff riding up against the inside of her thigh that she was jolted out of her sleep. Startled, her reflexes did what they were trained to do - attack the enemy and defend yourself. The leg that was wrapped in Athrun's shot up and the sheer pain of the impact forced him out of his sleep. His eyes were wide and he yelped and inch away from her ear. In response, she yelled trying to get her aching ear away from his thundering scream.

The shrieking ensued for a few long moments before Athrun loudly demanded, "Get your knee _away _from me." He cringed as she straightened her leg.

"What the fuck are you doing!?" was his next painfully voice question.

"What the fuck is that?" She asked, trying to push his pelvis off her thigh. "Get off me you pervert."

Athrun gladly rolled off, curling into a ball. His expression looked pained and his eyes were cutting through Cagalli's soul. "It's morning!"

"What _is_ that?" She asked, partly in denial.

"It's _morning_!" he restated painfully, hoping she'd understand. "What do you expect!?" Cagalli did not respond, glad that she was free from his clutches.

"Why were you under me anyway?" His voice sounded panicked at the question. He was not sure what happened last night; he couldn't even remember the taste of the alcohol he'd consumed.

"Because you passed out on top of me, dipshit!" Cagalli exclaimed, rubbing her inner thigh to rid it of the lingering sensation of Athrun's erection.

"I would not do that!" He defended; still loud, still pained.

"Oh, but I would crawl under your heavy, unconscious body because it turns me on!?" Cagalli could not believe the stupidity Athrun was displaying. It was almost as unbelievable as his featherweight tolerance for liquor.

"I would not put anything past you, you strange critter."

_Critter. _**Critter!?** Cagalli's mind replayed the annoying word in her head multiple times till she was sincerely scared for her sanity. "Don't you call me a critter you alcoholic sex monster." If Athrun didn't remember, she was going to milk this for all it was worth.

"There is no way that I came on to you," he said firmly, almost certain that he had convinced himself of the fact.

"Oh, I guess when you just throw your clothes off and pull me into strange positions, until I feel the _need_ to dress you in your PJs, is not your idea of coming on to me."

Athrun's face changed colour instantly. "I did_ not _get naked. I never do that! _Ever!_"

"Oh, you weren't naked. You did me the consideration of keeping your boxers on." Cagalli was teasing him despite the frustrated and aghast tones of her voice. "They are white CK boxer briefs, in case you don't believe me. They are burnt into my brain permanently. _Thanks_." Never again would she appreciate those salacious Calvin Klein ads roll by on busses and trains.

Athrun straightened out and sprawled on the bed. He tried racking his brain to remember any fragment of this from the previous night but came up empty. Rationally, there was no way he'd end up caging Cagalli the way he did unless he wanted to. If she'd tried anything, he was definitely strong enough to confine her, drunk or not; which means he potentially sexually harassed the very blonde whose company he could barely tolerate without sinking into suicidal (or homicidal) thoughts. Shit, this gave her the upper hand.

It did not occur to him that there were other dire consequences to sexually harassing a girl he'd just met. For instance, maybe the girl was emotionally unstable in the wake of the event. To him, all that mattered was their rivalry and who came out on top. Perhaps it was because, to him, Cagalli was already emotionally unstable. And, to be technical, he _did_ come out on top even in this case. It just happened to work against him this time.

"It won't happen again." He mumbled, crawling out of bed.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" She asked, cupping her ear with her palm and leaning into him.

"You heard me." He said curtly, the pain fading from his voice.

"Was that Mr. High-and-Mighty-even-though-I-can't-drink-for-shit _apologizing_?" Cagalli taunted.

Athrun's face reddened with rage. "I will never apologize to a whiney princess like you!" He said, seemingly revoking his word. "In fact, the next time I pass out on you I hope you suffocate."

"You suffocated me plenty fat ass!" She barked.

"Apparently not plenty enough," he said in a grim voice.

Cagalli's fingers balled into fists and she was regretting that she had nothing to throw at him except soft pillows. Then it struck her – pillows can smother. Grabbing the closest one, she jumped on him and pushed him down, succeeding due to the sheer momentum of her quick movement. She wasted no time in straddling him and pinning his head into the mattress with the pillow in her hands. She held the pillow down firmly despite his struggles.

He tried to free his arms, but the smart blonde had clamped them to his body as she straddled him. His kicking and flopping was doing only so much to throw her off balance. If he didn't free him arms soon, he might actually be taking his last breaths. He tired to scream but his voice was muffled by the pillow.

A phone rang, startling Cagalli. She initially ignored it in lieu of smothering the life out of Athrun, but recognized the ringtone after a few rings. She leaped off Athrun and dove for her phone.

"What the fuck were you thinking!?" She screamed into the phone as soon as she flipped it open.

"Seriously? Seriously!?" She exclaimed, "You let that evil scheming fiancée of yours plan my trip out to your castle? I told you I could do it myself!"

"No, I fucking hate his guts!" She spat into the microphone. "How much could I possibly hate him? Well, enough for you to potentially have an emasculated corpse for a best man!"

"How is this fruitcake your best friend?" She asked bitterly, "Yeah, yeah, Lacus and her fantasies. Well, this Maid of Honour is not going to fulfill the bride's fantasizing."

"Then she should have done a better job picking your best man! Or you should have been sober when you became best friend with-" Before she could finish her sentence, Athrun snatched the phone from her hand.

"Shut the fuck up weasel," He snapped at her before saying to Kira, "I can't promise that I'll protect this kid."

"No, I don't care that we don't get along. You know I'm not that immature." He explained to the groom.

"Oh really? Mature people know how to apologise." She glared at his tanned face.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" He asked, not bothering to cover the microphone.

"Yeah? Didn't I tell you to fuck off yesterday?" She retorted, with a sarcastic smile. "Give me my phone bastard. I didn't say you could touch my stuff."

"Athrun! Cagalli!" They heard faint screams from the ignored phone.

"Yeah?" Athrun answered, and after listening for a while he reluctantly put the phone on speaker.

"Are you guys planning on ruining my wedding?" The voice was Lacus' and it was heartbreaking. "Seriously, we are way behind on renovations because you aren't here yet."

"Well if you wanted us to get there faster, you should have let us travel separately." Cagalli argued.

"No, because Athrun has no sense of direction," Lacus started, "You two have a lot of complementing skills if you just put aside your differences. I did not expect such an immature fight to explode between the two of you so early."

"Athrun's lack of navigation skills is clearly his problem," a disgruntled Cagalli pointed out. "Why should I care?"

"Because there are parts of the trip you will not get through safely being a single girl," Kira explained. "While the shared flight was Lacus' idea, I was the one who insisted that Athrun accompany you on the drive." Kira hoped that his opinion still carried a lot of weight in Cagalli's decisions, as it did when they were kids.

"It's not like I'm entirely safe with this tart," she chimed as they glared at each other.

"_You_'re not safe!? You just tried to fucking suffocate me with a pillow!" Athrun yelled, to which Lacus gasped, "Cagalli!"

"That was because all you had to say was 'I hope you die next time' after you tried to rape me last night, you monster!" Cagalli countered to which Kira yelled, "Athrun!"

The conversation degenerated therein as everyone chose to speak simultaneously. The passing housemaids in the hall could only hear a dull racket emanating from the room.

"Stop!" Cagalli shrieked eventually. "This is fucking giving me a headache. All we have to do is make it to your castle right? Then I never need to see this jackass anymore."

Kira and Lacus grunted in unison, sounding displeased with each other. Lacus and Kira were respectively protective of Athrun and Cagalli. It could be said that the only time they fought was when the two were involved.

"Great, I'll make it happen somehow." She said before hanging up. "Pack up your stuff," she ordered Athrun. "I'll shower first."

She didn't wait for his response before fetching her clothes for the day. Before she entered the bathroom, she paused and said "I'm sorry I tried to kill you." She didn't look at him as she apologized and she shut the door behind her immediately after she had finished speaking. The unexpected sincerity of the apology left Athrun with guilt sinking into his stomach.

No more words were exchanged for the rest of the morning. The drive today was more awkward than yesterday's. It was getting on Cagalli's nerves. The only solace she had on this trip was the comfortable silence they could maintain when they weren't at each other's throats. With that gone, she could feel her sanity slipping out of her grasp.

"Why did you apologize?" Athrun asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Because I don't like to be a hypocrite," she shrugged, "and I'm not a big baby."

Athrun's eyebrow twitched and he was ready to launch an attack. "Why do you always have to say something stupid to provoke me?"

"I don't know. The words, they flow out naturally," she admitted.

"So you don't think before you speak," he concluded.

"I do, just not with you. Maybe it's because you are so immature that the child in me is pulled out," she rationalized.

"So, you're just going to blame me?" He became defensive.

"Why do you take everything I say negatively? Can't I just state a fact without you getting all uppity about it, princess?" she asked.

"Why don't you try to put more thought into the way you word things so that you don't sound so accusing?" was his reply.

"Why should I do all the work? I'm already navigating. You do some of the work," she delegated.

"I'm protecting you and driving. That is enough work for me," he pointed out.

"Protecting me, are you now, Mr. Sex Monster?" she teased.

After a long paused and what seemed like an epic moral struggle, Athrun maladroitly spat out a, "I'm sorry about that."

"I forgive you," Cagalli said with a seriousness that forced Athrun to smile.

"How kind of you," he rolled his eyes, "I won't drink until we get to the castle."

"That'll give me more space for escape," she grinned, "You don't need to stop drinking. Just pass out on the right side of the bed."

"Well, hopefully we won't have to share a room again. I think that would be safest." Athrun preferred the left side too.

"I still don't understand how that hotel had no more rooms left. I barely saw any cars in the parking lot when we left." Cagalli bit her lip as she spoke.

After another long pause they both said in unison, "If Lacus fixed it, I'm going to kill her."

They laughed and ceasefire was silently agreed upon. The awkwardness in the silence had evaporated. They were both pleased with the current status of their love-hate relationship.

Alas, the truce didn't last very long.

"I am telling you, this is the way to go!" Cagalli's rigid finger traced a road on the map which had been spread onto the hood of his car.

"No, no, it's this route." Athrun followed a winding mountain highway.

"Winging roads are too long. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line." Cagalli argued, wanting to get to their destination as quickly as possible. She did not expect the amiable atmosphere between them to last for the rest of the trip.

"I know that! But we're way ahead of schedule because we made only one stop today. We're more likely to find a good place to stop the night in the mountains than through the dessert." He reasoned with her. He didn't favour the dry heat of the desert.

"But the mountain road meets up with the desert road down the road anyway. What is the point?" Cagalli pointed to the intersection where the two roads conjugated.

"Like I said, cooler drive, better accommodation," he reiterated.

Cagalli understood his reasoning but did not agree with it. This was just a difference of attitude and it was difficult to create solid arguments against an opinion. "But mountains pose the risk of rock slides which we can avoid in the desert. What if a boulder crushes your car?"

Athrun was dumbfounded. "Are you seriously telling me that you think that a giant cascade of rocks is going to bury us? How many times have you travelled through mountains and how many times have you seen or even heard of that happening?"

Cagalli recognized the absurdity of her suggestion. She sighed in defeat. If they were going to stand here and argue for hours, they might as well take the detour. "Fine, whatever. We'll go your way. But I still say the desert is the better way to go." She folded the map and replaced it in Athrun's bag. "Let's go."

"Good." His mouth spread into a large grin. He was soon in the driver's seat and they were on their way.

Twilight hues had set into the sky. They had been driving for a few hours and had not passed a single place to stay. Cagalli knew if this continued she would start another fight. As it stood, she was very bitter about having to give into Athrun's route plan. She was navigator; she deserved the benefits.

"Can you pull over somewhere? I think I need to put some distance between us for a few minutes." Cagalli requested.

He was a little surprised by the straightforwardness, but pulled over without a fuss. He watched as she got out of the car and fished through her bag furiously. She swore a few times and she sifted through its contents.

"What are you looking for?" Athrun asked, a little worried about the well-being of her belongings.

"Cigarettes," was her short, irritated answer.

"I have some in my bag. Help yourself," he offered.

Cagalli couldn't reach his bag from her position so she pulled it out of the back seat and took it over to a large flat rock. Setting it down, she rummaged through the other pockets until she found a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "Thanks a lot," she turned and said to Athrun as she lit one. "I'll be back in a bit."

With that, she walked alone down the shoulder by the highway. The walk was uphill, but she took it at a fast pace. She carried the pack of cigarettes with her, knowing she'd smoke more than one.

Athrun sighed and got out of the car to stretch his legs. He looked both ways to check for traffic before running across the road. Once across, he could see how deep the valley ran. They were fairly high on the mountain. He slowly paced back and forth, focused on the gorgeous view of dusk sprawling before him. After ten or fifteen minutes, he turned back toward the car and prepared to cross the road. As he took his first step to cross, he felt the ground beneath him vibrate. He heard a strange sound – like a tank driving over gravel. Before he could take another step, a large amount of mid-sized stones slid down the side of the mountain and filled half of passenger seat. He looked at the scene in wonder. She'd talked about a rock slide and here one had happened.

"At least it's fairly small one. If I drive out a bit, we can just dust off her seat. She'll be pissed but it's not the end of the world," he said to himself as he continued to cross slowly. Luckily he had stopped going uphill on a straight stretch of road. So he could easily see traffic coming from both sides. Then again, they had yet to pass another vehicle on this road.

Before he reached his car, a large boulder came crashing down onto it, flattening the sporty convertible in on fell swoop. Athrun was stopped dead in his tracks and gaped at the sight of the massive boulder and the crumpled heap of black under it.

He could hear Cagalli yelling from the top of the slope, "What the hell was that sound?" as she ran towards him. He couldn't find it in him to even move let alone respond to her. When Cagalli caught up to him and saw what had made the loud, startling crunch a few moments back, her jaw was floored. She had only one thing to say.

"Are you fucking serious!?"

* * *

So, how was it? Please let me know.

Ah, I have a **note** for anyone interested. I've been haunted by a story idea for a while and have been writing it as if I were possessed by the goddess of AsuCaga. I need a beta reader, but am too lazy to sift through the piles and piles of beta reader profiles. The story will be quite long and will be remeniscent of _Oh Eight Hundred_ with a wider range of emotions dealt with. I need a beta who will be comfortable discussing the story line and writing style with me. If they possess gramatical prowess, I will be overjoyed! However, it isn't a priority. Time is not a constraint as I am in no hurry to post it (and haven't decided _if_ I will be posting it). So, if you like the way _Oh Eight Hundred_ flowed or you like me and are interested in helping me out with this project, please PM me for details on the story. You may potentially get to read something not many other people will. (God, I am not at all conceited enough to think that matters! I have no idea why I want to say it.) I'm hoping at least one of you is potentially interested, because I know that I will never sift beta profiles. I enjoy writing and reading too much to spare time for much else.

Enough of irrelevance. Thank you very much for reading. Have a great August!


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